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Getting Greener: USAF Hangars
Monday, Jun 8, 2009 @01:23am CDT
Around the world the Air Force has turned to the sun and turned off the lights.
Dyess Air Force Base in west Texas is a prime example.
"What we were trying to do was to add lighting to the hangars," said Dyess AFB Energy Manager Tom Denslow. "In order to elevate the lighting levels that going to waste more energy by putting in more electricity in."
"So what we said is, if we daylight these as well, we could turn lights off during the day."
Solar panels were the perfect solution.
Air Force specs called for panels designed to collect the maximum amount of light.
So when the sun goes down mechanics aren't left in the dark.And the Air Force is able to keep them flying.
"These units here take in the light and concentrate it into the round squares or rectangle and then it goes through another lense that actually columizes it and brings it down to the floor. So by the time it gets to the floor, it stays tight until it gets down and then spreads."Other Air Force bases around the world are also integrating solar technologies like day lighting.
The methods are costly to install but so far they've saved the service $200,000 a year.
That's a big deal when your annual electric bill is five billion dollars.
In the event of a cloudy or rainy day a back up electrical system is in place.
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